Headphones

Started by Bonehelm, June 10, 2007, 02:50:21 PM

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Parsifal

Quote from: Pat B on August 15, 2013, 09:29:04 AM
I don't see any indication that they're in production yet. Their delivery estimate is in January. Claiming to "support" mp3, flac, and aiff (!) is a bit of a turn-off for me since all of that is handled before it gets to their product. As far as what else is out there, here's a start:
http://www.headphone.com/headphone-amps/amplifiers.php

I have a Total BitHead which apparently is now OOP. :(

The first question is probably whether you need one at all. I bought mine to go with ER-4S phones since they are moderately difficult to drive. I don't always use it. My other phones are Grado SR-60's and I rarely use the amp with them.

I also have a Total BitHead.  I did not find the sound it produced to be outstanding, but it looks like HeadRoom discontinued a lot of its product line.  Disappointing because I liked their crossfeed feature.

The kickstarter campaign doesn't sound viable since there are many similar products already available and I don't see anything unique about the product they propose to make.

Opus106

Quote from: DavidW on August 15, 2013, 09:34:15 AM
I'm sure Brian you know and understand how kickstarter works, but for everyone else... don't consider it an investment.  Alot of kickstarters don't pan out and the money is just gone.  You have to be willing to put money towards a project with no expectation of seeing that money back, in hopes of seeing a product make it to market that otherwise would not exist.  It is as simple as that.

There are some projects which refund the money if their respective goals aren't reached. So read the terms carefully is what I'd say.
Regards,
Navneeth

stingo

They more than reached their goal. If there are similar products on the market, are there any recommendations for what's available, not OOP?

jlaurson

#663
Quote from: stingo on August 17, 2013, 09:54:56 AM
They more than reached their goal. If there are similar products on the market, are there any recommendations for what's available, not OOP?

An audiophile friend of mine swears by this:

ahh... actually I forgot. I'll inquire.

inquired:
Quotethere was M2tech dac the orange stuff
http://www.m2tech.biz/hiface_dac.html
headphone amp look in amazon they range around 50
geek look good too
http://www.theawesomer.com/geek-dac-headphone-amp/248144/

For non-mobile travel he likes the PA-10.1d...

What you want, Brian, is--from the sound of it--a DAC/Amp combo, though... otherwise the direct USB connection makes little sense...

There are plenty of those around, too... quality makers from reliable sources. If you are into audiophile downloads, you'll have to look at the specs like a hawk... otherwise you can be pretty safe that all newer pieces of equipment will serve your needs just fine.

Parsifal

Quote from: jlaurson on August 17, 2013, 10:20:21 AMThere are plenty of those around, too... quality makers from reliable sources. If you are into audiophile downloads, you'll have to look at the specs like a hawk... otherwise you can be pretty safe that all newer pieces of equipment will serve your needs just fine.

The bottom line is power.  No DAC/Aamp that that is powered by the USB is going to sound very good because USB power is anemic and noisy.  For a mobile solution you may have no choice, but if you are going to be plugging you computer in to AC power you will want to plug your DAC/Amp in to be driven by its own independent power supply.

71 dB

Quote from: Scarpia on August 17, 2013, 12:35:00 PM
The bottom line is power.

Yes. That's why I use a self-constructed headphone adapter connected to the B-speaker terminals of my NAD amplifier. No sortage of power!  ;D

Specs: Effective output impedance 1 ohm, three crossfeed levels (+off), mono switch and the parts cost about 25 euros. Design + construction work many many hours but it was a fun project.

Now I am working on a better headphone adapter with six crossfeed levels because it's fun.

Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

DavidW

Quote from: stingo on August 17, 2013, 09:54:56 AM
They more than reached their goal. If there are similar products on the market, are there any recommendations for what's available, not OOP?

By oop I think you mean the classic total bighead?  Yeah that's sad.  Fiio has at least one, and there is a $20 Behringer, and the Nuforce udac (I personally didn't like this one but Holden or someone else here did if I recall).

Those are inexpensive solutions.  You can also get a dac and then a desktop amp separately as well. 

Mirror Image

Just made a purchase of these Sennheiser HD 598 for $189:



These come highly recommended from DavidW.

Wanderer


Mirror Image

Quote from: Wanderer on November 27, 2013, 11:47:56 PM
Good choice.

Thanks Wanderer. They were on sale and it's not very often this happens with Sennheiser.

DavidW

Cool beans MI.  If you don't like it, you can resell it at a markup after the sell is over! ;D

aquablob

Quote from: Mirror Image on November 27, 2013, 08:04:09 PM
Just made a purchase of these Sennheiser HD 598 for $189:



These come highly recommended from DavidW.

I was considering those recently. For around the same price, I ended up purchasing the HD 558 and the Fiio E10 DAC/amp, giving me the added benefit of better sound out of my desktop speakers. Quite happy, although those 598s are definitely prettier than my 558s (presumably they sound a little better, too).

Mirror Image

Quote from: DavidW on November 28, 2013, 07:56:16 AM
Cool beans MI.  If you don't like it, you can resell it at a markup after the sell is over! ;D

I'm a pretty loyal fan of Sennheiser, so I hope they're right up my alley. :) I know you've mentioned before these cans fit classical music like a glove.

Mirror Image

#673
Quote from: aquariuswb on November 28, 2013, 09:42:36 AM
I was considering those recently. For around the same price, I ended up purchasing the HD 558 and the Fiio E10 DAC/amp, giving me the added benefit of better sound out of my desktop speakers. Quite happy, although those 598s are definitely prettier than my 558s (presumably they sound a little better, too).

Excellent. For listening at home, mostly at night, I run one of my iPods through an Audio-Technica HA20 headphone amplifier. This has turned out to be a great sounding combo for me. I use various headphones, but one of my mainstays in the past year or so has been a pair of Samson SR850. They sound really great, but they're quite uncomfortable for long listening periods.

71 dB

#674
Quote from: Mirror Image on November 27, 2013, 08:04:09 PM
Just made a purchase of these Sennheiser HD 598 for $189:



These come highly recommended from DavidW.
Nice purchase MI! I bought my HD 598 for 179 euros ($240) two and half years ago.

I wrote this in another thread but it belongs in here better:

Click for larger

Finally I finished the "deluxe" headphone adapter I have been planning to construct for months. Headphone adapters are connected to the speaker output terminals of an audio amplifier to attenuate the signal about 30-40 dB for headphones. Headphone adapters are passive headphone amplifiers Benefits:

- Low output impedance meaning high damping factor (the headphone outputs of audio amplifiers have too high impedance).
- Possibility to shape the signal more suitable for headphone listening (e.g. crossfeeding)
- inexpensive to make if you have the skills.

The effective output impedance of my new headphone adapter is 1 ohm. That's comparable to quality headphone amplifiers.  With Sennheiser HD 598 headphones the damping factor is 60, much higher than the recommendation of 8 or more. Higher damping factor means tighter and cleaner distortion free sound.

Almost all stereophonic recordings are produced for loudspeakers. They have wide "superstereo" sound because of acoustical crossfeeding that happens because both ears hear sound from both loudspeakers. Room acoustics futher blends the audio channel information. When listening with headphones this stereo image narrowing doesn't happen and the resulting sound is tiresome and unnatural. Sounds are located near ears on the left and right side of the head rather that in front of the listener where they usually belong. Stereo image is also tangled because  psycoacoustic cues of the sound are too strong. This is called spatial distortion. How to get rid of it? Well, (electrical) crossfeeding is the obvious answer since lack of it gave us this problem in the first place!

My new headphone adapter has no less than 6 crossfeed levels to accommodate with different kind of recordings from mild -9.9 dB up to pretty strong -1.1 dB. Frequencies below 800 Hz are crossfeeded to the other channel at these levels delayed by about 250 µs to simulate the longer distance to the ear. Most headphone amplifiers on the market do not have crossfeeding and those models that have it give only one or two options for the level. Crossfeeding is extremely important because spatial distortion is nowadays the biggest problem of headphone listening, people just don't realise that and are happy with the unreal and tiresome superstereo sound optimized for loudspeakers.

My new headphone adapter has also mono and "blurred mono" options for problematic soundtracks. Works well with Youtube where stereophonic sound is often f*cked up. When people upload videos of themselves speaking about something, they should acquiesce to mono sound. "Blurred mono" is near-mono. It preserves a small part of channel separation.
Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

toledobass

Wow...great!

Quote from: Mirror Image on November 27, 2013, 08:04:09 PM
Just made a purchase of these Sennheiser HD 598 for $189:



These come highly recommended from DavidW.

Mirror Image

Quote from: 71 dB on November 29, 2013, 01:53:57 AM
Nice purchase MI! I bought my HD 598 for 179 euros ($240) two and half years ago.

Great to hear, 71 dB. I look forward to giving them a test drive. According to the Amazon tracking they should arrive on Tuesday.

Mirror Image

Quote from: toledobass on November 29, 2013, 11:53:27 AM
Wow...great!

Just out of curiosity, do you own these? I'd like to read your opinion of them.

71 dB

#678
Quote from: Mirror Image on November 29, 2013, 05:51:10 PM
Great to hear, 71 dB. I look forward to giving them a test drive. According to the Amazon tracking they should arrive on Tuesday.

Yeah, interesting to hear about your impressions. HD 598 (and other newer Sennheisers I suppose) have forward sound (sounds arrive more from the front and less from the sides which is a plus). With a crossfeeder the sounds "bend" further to the front and sometimes it's like listening to a pair of ultra-high quality loudpeakers without the problems rendered by rooms acoustics!  :)

Spatial distortion is a serious problem deteriorating headphone listening.
Crossfeeders reduce spatial distortion and make the sound more natural
and less tiresome in headphone listening.

My Sound Cloud page <-- NEW Jan. 2024 "Harpeggiator"

Mirror Image

Quote from: 71 dB on November 30, 2013, 04:16:16 AM
Yeah, interesting to hear about your impressions. HD 598 (and other newer Sennheisers I suppose) have forward sound (sounds arrive more from the front and less from the sides which is a plus). With a crossfeeder the sounds "bend" further to the front and sometimes it's like listening to a pair of ultra-high quality loudpeakers without the problems rendered by rooms acoustics!  :)

Sounds great, 71 dB.